


3E

by titanium-81 (acarpous_figment)



Category: Nichijou
Genre: Alternate Timeline, Character Study, Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-12 11:31:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5664553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acarpous_figment/pseuds/titanium-81
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Picking up immediately after the anime's conclusion, 3E focuses on the three teachers and their daily lives in Tokisadame. (01/13): edited the foreword. No story update.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 3E: i. Episode 1 (1/3)

**Author's Note:**

> Foreword: the following takes place straight after the anime and references parts of the manga up to volume 9 but doesn't closely follow any established timeline and assumes Nano's birthday happens on January 7th. ... (Deep breaths. Deep, deep breaths.)
> 
> Won't pretend my grasp of the characters is perfect but hopefully this is as fun to read as it was to write.
> 
> Please enjoy.
> 
> (01/13): I think I explained myself poorly when I rushed to post this on the 7th, so I best fix that. I also didn't want to bore your eyes dry so I'll try to be brief and fail, most likely...
> 
> 3E assumes **everything in the anime happened.** It just fudges around with the timeline without necessarily changing the order of events, so you could have Takasaki's chance meeting with Sakurai (see: Ep. 21) in November instead of the strongly implied December -- for example. (and there is, in fact, a perfect day for Takasaki to have a day off in November. Thank goodness for that)
> 
>  **Nothing beyond what the anime covers of the manga has happened yet and likely won't happen,** 'least not in the same way, which is why I tagged the story as an alternate timeline. I swear that's about it as far as timeline shenanigans go. Volume 9's been out for long enough that it was available when I started writing 3E in late 2014 and it inspires quite a bit! Volume 10 and the end of series' manga just last month was totally unexpected though. (am working through it slowly...)
> 
> Can't say it enough: thanks for everything, Arawi Keiichi! Best wishes to you and any future endeavours!

***

Soar!!! Some how or other.  
Fly!!! For all one's worth.  
Don't! Look!! Down!!! Don't!!!! Fall!!!!!!

Ink still drying, these slogans lay on the roof, waiting for their moment.

***

**Weather Sprung**

***

She dithered nervously as she reviewed her speech in her head. She volunteered for this; she could do this!

The podium had everyone's rapt inattention, including, to her slight shame, hers. The Principal overlooked them.

"I would like to say...

"The previous evening,  
"our fields were lonely and dry,  
"now you students are here.

"Welcome back, everyone, to Tokisadame Highschool," said the Principal.

***

 ** _Yesterday..._** she had gone to work, leaving Makoto and their father undisturbed; the former's toes had slipped out of his blankets while the latter had fallen asleep in the hall with the newspaper on him. She had it folded up and replaced it with a blanket. She had a note about breakfast being in the fridge left by the phone. She didn't forget anything, did she?

A bike bell rung and she saw Takasaki-sensei pull up. "Woah there," he went, at the bike. "Sakurai-sensei, good morning."

"Ah, good morning!"

***

Some students were catching up with each other beyond the front gate.

She smiled and went over to her shoe locker.

***

One teacher yawned, and the rest of the lounge followed suit; their rookie Science teacher in particular tried her best to be unaffected but lost the battle. Which set off the procession once more, as she had managed to stave it off for a good half minute.

She looked endearingly displeased as a yawn took hold of her again. Sakurai wondered if she was here for the meeting, or...

"Is everyone awake?" asked the Vice Principal.

One of them laughed. "It's opening day -- I'm sure we'll all be up and running by the time class begins."

"I'll be up and running by the time class _ends,_ " cried another.

Takasaki responded, "Go to the nurse's office and take a nap, you." He laughed. "Nodding off while the students are watching -- aren't you embarrassed calling yourself a teacher?"

"Calm down," said Tomioka, the oldest teacher present apart from the Vice Principal, "Opening day's tomorrow."

"When we'll be having this conversation again," mentioned Uhyoue, "Practise makes perfect."

"How comforting," went Niimi.

***

"Nakamura-sensei--"

Five people raised their hands. The Vice Principal frowned at them through his round, string-loops-around-his-ears spectacles--

\--and clarified himself.

***

"Sakurai-sensei, have you thought of what you're going to say to our students?" asked Tomioka.

_Oh no--_

Takasaki offered some words of encouragement that, Sakurai was afraid, didn't quite reach her--

***

"And that concludes our meeting," said the Vice Principal. "Let's do our best for the students this third and final term."

***

**Weather Sprung 2**

***

Some students were playing some variant of rock-paper-scissors. She smiled and went over to her shoe locker, and upon opening it, discovered there were two letters waiting. "Ah? I wonder what these are for..."

"S-Sakurai-sensei, those letters..." said Takasaki, who had just come inside after leaving his bicycle at the bicycle shelter. "C-Could they be..."

"I don't know." She looked at the decorated envelopes and thought she would see what they said later, in a more private setting. "Excuse me," she said, politely bowing herself from the area.

The one thing that left an impression on her was his paling expression of concern.

***

 

***

 _Ohh, if only I had read those letters earlier--_ she thought, feeling awful as she went to fetch her lunch. _\--I could have addressed those students' fears at the opening ceremony..._

"I'm sorry, Sensei, for writing this on old stationery," began the first letter. "I don't know who I can tell this to without feeling deeply ashamed of myself. My marks are terrible, I don't know how to study... I can study study study but I can't seem to get any of it into my head... Everything falls out like dead leaves from a tree... I feel so awful about this..."

The letter was unsigned.

"Sakurai-sensei, on the outside, I'm an amazing pear. Everyone loves me. But on the inside, I'm secretly an evil avocado."

This letter was, too, unsigned.

"Um, Sensei, about those letters..." began Takasaki, who stopped her in the hall during one of the breaks between classes.

"Yes?"

"Were they from interested parties?"

The very moment she opened her mouth to ask what he meant, he made a noise of anguish and looked so ashamed of himself. She asked if he was alright.

"I'm fine, honest," he said, voice taut.

"Um ... they were from students."

"S-St-Students?! Which ones? Tell me so I can tell them off! I mean--" He backed away, "No, no, no, it's not like that," he said.

She pretended to ignore some of that. "No," she agreed. "The truth is ... they were unsigned, so..."

He looked pained at this.

"...and they were concerned about their self-esteem and worried about their marks."

This seemed to release him from his torment. "Eh?" he asked. "So, these students ... they were confessing to you, but it wasn't, ah, that kind of confession?"

"It wasn't."

"Oh, that's a relief..." His hand went to his heart, and he rubbed it as though soothing some ache. "a real embarrassment... I'm sorry about putting you through that, Sakurai-sensei."

"Next time, I'll try to inform you in advance to clarify things...

"Pardon me," she said, excusing herself from his presence with a smile. She should have told somebody, she supposed, but there hadn't been any time...

***

"Mako-chan?" she said, asking implicitly why he wasn't at his club. She almost brushed shoulders with him as they went along the road beyond the school gate.

"Club leader's not here; only person there was Sekiguchi," he answered. "And Takasaki-sensei went downtown on his bike before I could talk to him."

"You don't want to do club activities with Sekiguchi-san?"

"It's not _that..._ I'm not going far, anyway; you know the cafe's within walking distance."

"After we eat, shall we return to school together?"

"Don't kid with me..."

"I understand, Mako-chan."

"Sometimes I wonder _and stop calling me that at school,_ Sakurai _-sensei_."

"Your oneechan tries her best," she assured. "Sakurai Mako-chan. Ah, I mean, Makoto-kun..." At his expression, she said, "Ohh, I'm sorry, Mako-chan, it's hopeless...

"But we aren't at school anymore, so..."

He sighed. "Jeez, Oneechan... It's been a year. Get with the program already."

***

In 1-Q, her homeroom, the students were talking amongst themselves. "Hey, did you hear?" Apparently Obakey Coffee was launching a new group of flavours to celebrate the 'spring of youth'. Daiku Coffee's response was to promote a special bundle which 'went well with an hour of hard-nosed spring cleaning'.

"Sensei, are you eating lunch with us today?"

"Yes, I am," she answered, settling at the front with a chair and a smile.

"Go easy on us with the quizzes this term!"

"I'll try my best," she answered.

***

Someone let out a loud cry of dismay. Sakurai went around the bend to see the Science teacher standing at her shoe locker, looking like she wanted to die on the spot.

"Nakamura-sensei? Did something happen?"

"S-S-Sakurai-sensei!

"No, nothing happened." Nakamura sank onto a bench, her hands clutching at her knees.

Sakurai spared the open shoe locker a glance; there wasn't anything out of the ordinary in it. She leant over to peer at the other teacher's face. "Um, Sensei, if there's anything I could help you with...

"If it's about a student who's bothering y--"

"It's not," was the immediate response. "It doesn't have anything to do with school," she said, a hint unconvincingly.

"If there's ... anything I could..."

"There isn't." And then the tension was gone, like it had been a figment of Sakurai's imagination. "I couldn't possibly ask you to go out of your way. But thank you -- I know who to turn to when the going gets rough, Sensei." Nakamura walked off at a brisk clip.

It was troubling to detect a hint of insincerity in those amiable tones. Sakurai supposed they could only rub along as best as they could afford...

***

 

***

She located Father dearest in the laundry room, sleeping against the washing machine with his arms crossed. "Otousan," she said, catching ahold of his shoulder, "You shouldn't sleep in a place like this." She guided him out; she would check the state of the clothing afterwards.

"Ah, Izumi," he said, "What time is it?"

"It's just after five, I'm going to make dinner tonight." She closed the lid on the washing machine.

"Makoto isn't home?"

"He's at his club."

The elder Sakurai chuckled. "What about you, Izumi? Has any club asked you to supervise for them yet?"

"No ... I had to turn them down," she said, feeling that she couldn't juggle both at once.

"Student counselling, eh?"

She nodded. "Say..." Her father was attentive, though his eyes had started drooping again. She called him and asked, "How do I get people to trust me?"

***

At the shrine in the living room, she drew up her hands and clapped them together, bowing her head to issue a prayer to her late mother.

***

"First you have to learn to try people, Izumi," he answered drowsily at the kitchen table.

" _I do_ trust people..."

"If you don't try them first you won't know if they'll be receptive to your approach," he continued, almost sage-like.

"But I've extended my trust and they didn't seem receptive," she proceeded, elaborating.

"You can't just leave them alone, you have to keep talking to them. Just like how you deal with real people."

Th-This detail seemed to come out of the blue... "Eh?"

"You were so broken up over it that I recall you almost dropped it in the sink." Th-This detail, too, seemed to come out of the blue...

"Um, Otousan?" she tried, looking out from the fridge to check his face.

"Your questing machine," he answered with a complacent grin. "Remember?"

"Eh?!

"Ohhh..." Then she rallied and had her hopes checked. "You mean the QDS." She supposed it was too much to ask of him to keep track of things properly...

"Yes, yes, the handheld queued for jamming," he said, brightly.

She recalled the incident he was referring to now.

"How are the villagers doing?" he asked. "Did you get any more messages from Okaasan?"

"Ah... Y-Yes, I did."

He seemed a little more awake now, so she settled in a chair and told him about it. By the time supper was finished she felt a bit better about everything.

***

She arrived at the school, anxious to apply herself. She shook her head. _You can do this, Sakurai-sensei! Have faith in your students and colleagues._

***

**Weather Sprung 3**

***

Soar!!! Some how or other.  
Fly!!! For all one's worth.  
Look!!! 'Limit' doesn't mean 'lst'!!

Ink dried, these slogans faced the brisk blue air with pride.

***

In the staff lounge, Sakurai mulled over a problem. _I wonder what about my tests were too difficult to understand..._ Maybe she needed to completely revamp the format... Maybe with a grid... Or maybe she could ask students to draw pictures for her... Oh, maybe she could! Yes, maybe _she could_ do that. It would be a good test for comprehension! But ... it would have to wait, she still had her bento to finish.

***

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! IT'S A DISASTER!" cried one of her homeroom students. Sakurai started and clung to her homeroom's attendance book, hoping none of the sheets she had tucked inside had fallen out of it. "I THINK I'VE ALREADY FAILED, MIO-CHAN--"

"Yukko, they realised you were in the wrong classroom about fifteen minutes into the test. You don't have a test to fail; we don't do those until our Third Year. So cheer up?"

"Does that mean none of that was stuff we learned in class?!"

"Nope. None. Well--"

Her pathetic groan was pitiable. "I was told I was supposed to be there! Why am I so unlucky?"

"I don't know, Yukko. You tell me," finished Naganohara.

Once Sakurai reached the room, she headed towards the back with a concerned look and asked, "Aioi-san, are you alright?"

The red head briefly paled and straightened up, taking her face off her desk. "Oh! Um, hahaha," she laughed, rubbing at the back of her head. "Of course I am, Sakurai-sensei! I just had a brief scare, is all."

"You might want to explain," said Naganohara. "You missed this morning's attendance and everything."

***

_Staff Lounge, After School_

The Science teacher raised her hand. The Vice Principal clarified, "The other Nakamura-sensei, the one from Music.

"Does anyone know where she is?"

There was a tense back-and-forth; eventually it was agreed that she was last seen in the music room warming up the piano to the tune of the latest pop song. Apparently one of them _had_ asked her to come but as she was hard of hearing...,

it was possible she hadn't noticed.

***

 

***

A strong and humid summer had filled the shopping district full of t-shirts, hats and umbrellas. It could get rainy, but the umbrellas doubled as sun screeners, colourful and vibrant at two stories. Birds probably had the best, most vibrant view, their flights offering them glimpses of streets from above; it was probably like sighting wildflowers in foliage. She paused at the scene. She was inside a mall, looking out. Her umbrella was hooked on a shoulder bag strap.

She breathed in deeply -- she breathed out deeply. Another bright day with enough time to fulfill her duty as a sister. _Mako-chan would probably be happy to come home to a decent meal. So ... make it so._

_Do your best, Mako-chan._

On a regular day she would get all the groceries bought before she stopped by the store with foreign imports; today, she went there mid-shopping to see if any new magazines were available. She carefully supported her groceries by placing them on her lap as she knelt down to take a magazine from the depths of a shelf.

"So, how do you like?" asked the shopkeeper.

"Very -- cute!" answered the customer.

The protracted exchange had taken place in English -- which shouldn't have caught her attention, really, as it wasn't really an uncommon occurrence...

had she not just been thinking about it. She wondered what it would be like to live in a place where English wasn't a novelty -- often. But leaving home for overseas wasn't a very likely thing in her future; she didn't know what she would do if her family unravelled in her absence. What kind of a life would she have? If she were allowed to speak as much English as she pleased, where everyone could understand her? _No... Focus on the haves, not the have-nots,_ she thought with a smile. She rose-- having just spent the last few moments picking magazines-- and went to the cash register.

"How do you like the look of this?" asked the shopkeeper.

She was presented with a silver palm-sized device that looked like a pocket computer. "Ah, what's that?" she asked.

"Only the latest handheld gaming console on the market," was the almost irreverent reply.

***

 

***

"Let's do our best!"

"UN-UNDERSTOOD" went Takasaki. "LET'S DO OUR BEST, S-SAKURAI-SENSEI"

***

Sakurai received another letter today. This one, she pinned up on a bulletin board. It read:

_Greetings, People of Earth._

_I am Ex-Chancellor of the Kingdom of Fly! Hear me, for I extend the hand of friendship. In the name and power of the WOODEN CUBE I ask that you listen to my terms!_

...the letter rambled on at length. It was three pages long; she brought along a handful of brass thumb tacks and had about three left over.

_We are the people of the sky, the people who live in the clouds! We demand trade with you grounded earthlings!_

Underneath it she wrote on a slip of paper: "whomever wrote this, please consider submitting an entry into the essay competition. Keep up the good work!"

***

It hit the ground rolling; the crashing noise was the splintering of brittle plastic followed by noises of things cascading onto the pavement.

Sakurai, having returned to 1-T to get worksheets she'd left behind, forgot all about them again. She headed out the closest exit and arrived at the compound in time to see a balloon wobble out of the wreck and wobble towards the sky.

***

**It's a UFO.**

***

The wreck was in the compound area sandwiched between the science laboratories and the first year classrooms. Red lasers blinked across the pavement from small wheels, still whirring in fits, and LEDs on a circuit board went red -- yellow -- red -- nothing, rapidly. The balloon had strayed to a spot above a saucer-shaped plastic shell, now broken in half, the string anchoring it to the shell making it resemble a pin on a map.

She let in a slow and anxious gasp. "I wonder if it's a project a student was working on." She passed through the wreck on the quickest route to the stairs, thinking of how to clean up the mess-- and who to ask for help-- when, from the far side of the compound, around the corner...

A heavy door swung out and its stopper was deployed; a cart was then pushed through.

...the Science teacher emerged from end of the building and hurried towards the wreck. She stopped the cart and stepped away from it, looking around just as Sakurai had done. As she bent down to pick up the jagged and sharp shell--

"Excuse me, Nakamura-sensei," called Sakurai. The other teacher tensed-- a penlight flickering briefly in a hand-- and asked her why she was there. "Sorry, I saw it hit the ground--" She pointed out the splintered edges and added, "Should you be picking that up with your bare hands? That doesn't seem like a very safe thing to do..."

Action displaced surprise and Nakamura said, "Right, you could cut yourself on it." She jogged around the bushes over to the outside entrance of one of the labs and went in. Sakurai saw her enter the Science Preparation Room from a door between the two.

It took her no time to return to the front of the room but she suddenly halted at the window, standing there awhile; Sakurai was puzzled. Sakurai couldn't see Nakamura's expression -- the blinds were half-drawn. She went in to ask, "Um, are you--"

Nakamura whipped around in the middle of Science Preparation and barged into the other laboratory. The door slammed shut with a bang. Sakurai approached it (it was labelled "Science Laboratory 1" above the door) and went "Um..." It swung open.

"You startled me," stated Nakamura, with shotgun timing. Sakurai flinched.

"I'm sorry... Are you alright?"

"You saw it," said Nakamura. "Didn't you?"

"Eh? Well... Well, what was it was I supposed to see?"

"The crash site," she said, turning her head slightly to indicate the wreck with a glance through the blinds. "Look, don't misunderstand me: I saw it too, which is why I raced out here to clean it up.

"Someone too curious for their own good might hurt themselves if we don't. Who knows how much trouble it'll turn out to be.

"Are we clear?"

"Yes," answered Sakurai. "But..."

"What is it?"

"It belongs to somebody," she said, "won't they come looking for it?"

***

 

***

"Completely unnecessary."

Sakurai had to steel herself at this. "W-Why?"

"Did you come in to question me or clean up the site?"

"How will we return it to its owner?" she pressed.

The hem of Nakamura's lab coat shifted; her hands had been in her pockets the entire time and it seemed like she was gripping onto something. The look she eyed Sakurai with was anything but amicable. "How will we return it to its owner?" Sakurai pressed again.

A slight, tense smile upturned Nakamura's lips. Sakurai wasn't sure a smile was appropriate to the situation, but she sure knew it made her feel uneasy... "As I said, I don't believe that will be necessary.

"Now." The P. A. system activated with a colleague clearing their throat. Nakamura paled. "Who!?"

It blared, "NAGANOHARA MIO FROM 1-Q, PLEASE COME TO THE STAFF LOUNGE. NAGANOHARA MIO FROM--"

"Ah, yes, her sister left her something," explained Sakurai, drawing Nakamura's attention away from the sliding doors connecting the room to the hall. It was undoubtedly a safer topic -- a bit of common ground. Which Sakurai was grateful for, because just then it seemed like Nakamura had been ready to do something unspeakably bad...

"--PLEASE COME TO THE STAFF LOUNGE TO PICK UP A PACKAGE."

**Beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep...**

Nakamura deflated at the sound; she went to her desk and opened a drawer. She pulled out a wristwatch and with a bit more force than necessary pressed a button to silence it.

"About your watch... Is it a new one?"

"What?" Dangling it by the strap, she turned it at an angle and gave it a second glance.

"Yes?"

Sakurai was frowned at.

***

She was presented with a spare lab coat. "Eh?" she asked.

"It's just plastic, but getting the shards on your clothing will ruin them. Put it on."

***

She switched on the penlight she'd been given and shined it around the pavement.

"Say ... what is it for?"

"Hmm. Hmm?"

"What does it do?"

"Who knows," was the answer from inside the Science Preparation Room. The window was open and the blinds were fully drawn. The blinds were also drawn for both labs on either side. "How do I answer you if I don't have the slightest idea?" Nakamura had retreated there to set up for next period; when asked about it, she'd said "I hadn't planned for a failure." -- on the offhand.

Sakurai decided it was better not to press the point but she really was awfully curious... "It looks very complicated," she said.

"Is it? How can you tell?"

"I can see that it was very carefully put together."

***

"I've brought it in," she said. "Where do you want me to put it?"

"Thank you, there will be perfect." But it was just inside the door...?

Nakamura threw a cloth over the cart and backed it into the whiteboard. Sakurai watched her return to work without a moments' hesitation, discouragement settling in her heart; she felt that her colleague was impossibly inscrutable, much moreso than normal.

 _Wait, earlier, she said..._ Inspiration buoyed her spirits. _She went inside too quickly for me to say anything about it but she definitely--_ "Nakamura-sensei!"

"Tsk," went the teacher, like her concentration had been broken. "What?"

"Earlier, you said, 'I hadn't planned for a failure.' ... right?"

Her expression went blank with surprise. "I didn't say anything like that."

"You did; you said it just before you started setting up the labs."

"Eh...?" A little self-doubt had crept into Nakamura's expression. "Never mind that, Sensei. The next--"

"N-no-- that won't do. That won't do at all," Sakurai insisted.

"Why won't it?"

"Ohhh, Nakamura-sensei, there's nothing wrong with pursuing personal projects on school time--" The other teacher went 'hang on a second!!'. "--but please, please, please be more careful in the future; someone could have gotten hurt. And there's no need to be so secretive about it; I think it's amazing you were able to put it together, though I still don't know what it does..." Throughout her diatribe, she continually braced herself for a counter, physical or verbal; having squeezed her eyes shut so that she couldn't see it coming, she hoped to brazen it out, but maybe that was...

Nakamura's voice held an odd tone. "Sakurai-sensei."

"Yes?"

Nakamura's voice was a mixture of annoyance and something else. "You are letting it go, aren't you?"

"Y- N-No." She couldn't possibly!

Sakurai, after opening her eyes, determinedly held onto Nakamura's steady look.

***

**In the end, it remained a UFO.**

***

 _I suppose that's good enough for now._ Sakurai hurried along as fast as she could while still walking. It wouldn't do for her to be seen running through the halls -- it just wasn't setting a good example. _I should probably keep an eye on her, just in case._

"Nakamura-sensei, is there a matter you're in need of some advice on?" asked Tomioka.

One of the History teachers-- also a Nakamura-- raised her head and pushed up her bronze framed-glasses. "Well, there is an..." She glanced at Tomioka from the other side of the staff lounge, then-- with a tilt of her shoulders-- at whom Tomioka was staring and Sakurai was suddenly very very self-conscious...

"It isn't Nakamura-sensei we're looking at," she remarked.

He hummed in surprise and Sakurai looked down at her white sleeves. She noticed the bright rubber gloves sticking out of a coat pocket. "Oh no, I forgot to return it..."

"Eh?! Sakurai-sensei?" went Takasaki, about five feet away from her. He was half-seated at his desk.

"Ohhh, I can't believe I forgot--"

He pointed at her. "That lab coat! Did Suzuki-sensei ask you to help her cook something again?" asked Takasaki.

***


	2. 3E: i. Episode 1 (2/3)

***

After the meeting at the public library broke up and everyone went their separate ways, she was pulled aside by senior teacher and future colleague, an Akagi-sensei...

She said, "Only 10% of the graduates?"

"In other words, our output is so small that our Science department was folded into the Math department."

"10%," she repeated, thinking that was fine for low expectations, then paused when his words sunk in. "Are we still talking about Tokisadame Highschool?"

"We are."

"That isn't how it was organised."

"It is now."

He sat beside their new recruit-- her-- on a bench located at a vending machine. Said recruit was rolling a can of black coffee between her hands; at some point she stopped drinking it. "When did this happen?"

"Never mind; let me proceed," he requested. "We're coordinating with all teachers to get the classes taught; there aren't enough hands to go around.

"That's where you come in.

"We'll be using you as an opportunity to completely revise our presentation of the Science curriculum."

***

 

***

Nakamura dropped the can; it lolled over and streamed onto the pavement. "......why?"

"I want you to keep in mind that ultimately, our goal is 50% Science graduates."

" **How?**

"Wait, just ... wait," she said, "This is long-term?"

"Naturally."

"Do I get no say about this?"

"Can you do it?"

Sweat dripped down her face. "The coffee," she said, standing up; he sat back as she went to take the can.

He cleared his throat, getting back to their original subject. "Can you do it?"

"I couldn't possibly," she answered. "I'm not satisfied the resources are available."

"Go on."

"'Go on'?"

He motioned for her to continue.

She set the can on the lid of the recycling bin, for want of a place to put it, and tapped her chin with a thumb. "What do I know, hmm..." she intoned.

***

**There's a catch...**

***

Having pulled up the blinds so they were level with the air conditioner mounted on the ceiling...

There came a sudden noise as something dropped with a clang in the adjoining laboratory; she cast the door opening a surreptitious look.

"Shhhhhh," went Nakanojou.

"Oh, right," said Tanaka. "Sorrow, sorrow."

...she was sipping coffee at the window, observing the autumn rain. Earlier, the Principal stopped by to mention how 'drowsy' the weather was. Hearing him natter away made _her_ drowsy.

The two boys in the adjoining lab were students from the same class; they spoke in low tones about their latest interest. Nakanojou in particular was a keen scientist-in-the-making; he enthused about nothing else. It was only natural he would be attracted to the labs, she supposed. The boy was a study in contrasts, but there was no point in thinking too deeply on it; there was something more interesting to think about, anyway.

Like Shinonome Nano.

"Lookat that," said Tanaka. "Open this door, put it in, press this bar, and bam, warm food. You sure it's not a microwave?"

"It's not," said a smiling Nakanojou, "It's an analytical balance."

"You could be messing with me. Sure looks like it could heat my lunch, no problem!"

If only she could sit Shinonome in a glass case and introduce elements one by one into Shinonome's immediate environment. The current test conditions were the worst to make controlled observations under. She still wanted to find the robot alone and induce a state of unconsciousness whereupon she would be able to disassemble the body at her leisure. But opportunities came and went, and on school grounds it was all but impossible to get at Shinonome without someone walking in on her.

If only she had come across Shinonome four or five years into her teaching career; the excitement of being a rookie to the profession **severely** limited her options.

***

 

***

She arrived at the walk which could and would take her to the correct gymnasium. She could run and halve how long it took to get there, but it afforded her a little more time to herself this way.

Inside the clubhouse were students, which was only natural.

"Eeeh?" went a voice. "Sakurai went home? Awwww, I was going to ask him and Ogi to show us how a match is supposed to go.

"Oh yeah, I just remembered this; want a pineapple cola coffee? Tell me what you think after you taste it!"

"Thank you...

"He said he'll be back," said a much softer voice, barely tangible.

"Then I guess we'll play some boardgames while we wait up for him!"

***

Inside the gym, some students were bowling basketballs at pylons balanced on their noses.

She asked, "Is Kita-sensei here?"

***

She was back on the walk. _He's all the way on the other side of the school, supervising_ the other _gym. Sheesh._

"Sekiguchi, after you're done buying something from the vending machine, let's play a round of Monopoly, House Rules!" said the voice from the clubhouse.

***

"Hey," said Kita, who poked his head into the Science Preparation Room a little after seven. "I heard you wanted me for something?"

_Here at last._ "Yes, if you could let me borrow some equipment for a practical demonstration..."

"Oh, in that case, let's head over to the gym," he said.

_I'm sure I have no idea which one._

***

 

***  
  
**_The next morning..._** she marched herself past the front gates, dropped off her things in Sci Prep and splashed some water on her face. She stopped by the staff lounge for the morning meet. To her chagrin, she must have dozed off because it was an additional _half-hour later_ when she _finally_ circled back to the laboratories.

Ahead of her she spotted the wind-up key in Shinonome's back; the student, from all appearances, had just arrived. "Ah, Nakamura-sensei. You weren't inside?"

"I stepped out for a bit; are you here for the books?"

The student... The robot followed her into the room.

After class, they headed back to Sci Prep. The robot, laden with a load of 8 textbooks, had a gait which wasn't at all burdened by it.

***

**Belatedly**

***

"Happy Birthday," she said on the offhand. She overheard Shinonome's friends chitter about the event during class. "Though I assume I'm wishing you a happy birthday late."

Shinonome looked surprised for a moment, then smiled and thanked her.

"I assume you enjoyed it?"

"Yes, I did," she answered. Shinonome Nano's smile seemed to balloon, radiating happiness.

_After all, by conventional wisdom a birthday is a positive event._ To Nakamura's puzzlement, the key in Shinonome's back then spun at a rate she'd never seen before. _Hm? Make a note later--_ "I'm happy for you."

"Thank you," Shinonome said again. "Sensei ... yesterday, I realised I've been missing the point. The reason why I'm where I am today ... I owe it to something I've been trying to hide.

"From now on, I think I'll try to be myself."

Nakamura found herself wanting for an appropriate response, but why?

"I think ... it would be nice to get to know more people who don't mind I am who I am."

And why was Shinonome telling her this without any prompting? If she had prompted her by accident, just what **had** she done to trigger it? Could she find a way to examine, there and then, the hows and whys? _This is no different from yesterday,_ Nakamura thought, thinking back to when she had met Shinonome on the street, most likely before the party even happened. _This robot..._

_really has no sense of self-preservation._

***

 

***

**_Yesterday evening, in the quickly greying streets of Tokisadame..._** "Taisho," she called, "If you can hear me, answer me!

"Damn," she went, glancing to and fro, "The trail must have gone cold when I returned to school." She set her eyes on the lamp post. "This was where I lost him." She turned away from it and slipped a cellphone from her pocket, and flipped it open. "I'll just make note of the coordinates on the GPS..."

***

**_Yesterday evening, before four o'clock..._** "Taisho," called Shinonome, on the other end of the street. "Taisho...

"Sensei, I don't see him over here," she said.

Nakamura half-turned and looked at where the robot was standing; Shinonome had the natural human habit of hanging one's grocery bag on an arm. If not for the key, the robot could have passed off as human from a cursory glance. "Could you check there by the fence?"

***

**_Two Terms Ago..._** The door of her flat wouldn't give; she had tried to push it open before turning the knob all the way. Impatient, but realising she would be springing into the street without any footwear, she remedied the issue and went out. A lack of footwear wasn't the issue right then!

***

**There's a cat(ch).**

***

She tossed the map she'd bought on her tatami mats and knelt by it as she retrieved the 3mm stickers from the shopping bag. She unfolded the map and looked at the cellphone held awkwardly in her hand. She drew a line from the edge of the map to a specific street, and after comparing the tiny little map displaying re-inputted coordinates on the cellphone with the paper copy, deposited the sticker and made sure it stuck with an application of force from her thumb.

She closed the cellphone with both hands, and set it aside. "Tokisadame Highschool is here...

"Shinonome Lab is here. My apartment, here."

***

_"When you find Taisho, can I come see him?" asked Shinonome._

_Nakamura didn't remember springing back to her feet to address the question, only that she was suddenly standing. "Can you come? Of course you can come!_

_"Come tomorrow!"_

***

She looked over the circle she had pencilled in with the aid of a compass and kotatsu. The radius was vexing... she ran into this exact issue earlier in the school year. She had long since re-used _that particular map_ for tracking a certain robot's movements, so a clean slate had been necessary.

Nonetheless, it was a start. But could she really search the required span of streets all in one night? _My feet can only take me so far-- I know because I've done it-- and it's not like I have infrared vision. My suggestion that she visit me tomorrow may have been premature._

***

 

***

"Shinonome?" she asked, seeing the student at the school gates. Shinonome Nano smiled without a trace of wariness, shyly gripping onto her school bag in front of her knees.

"Sensei, I'm coming to see Taisho. Is that all right?"

"Ah? But Taisho isn't..." She regained her footing, explaining, "I'm sorry, I haven't been able to find him."

"Then excuse me," the student said, bowing. Nakamura watched her depart and turned to enter the compound.

***

 

***

**The Science Department**

***

"Also known as the Math Department.

"Which part of our discussion was 'relevant'?

"If we were going to discuss hypotheticals I'd prefer to be informed in advance."

***

 

***

_I can't believe it -- that was my chance and I've wasted it!_

Nakamura felt herself piqued to frustration; it would have been so simple to carry out. Had it occurred to her earlier it would have been a cinch.

_\- Invite Shinonome over with the pretence of showing her a cat.  
\- Nab her._

_That's how it should have went._

She strode into Sci Prep and closed the door.

_It can't be helped. Find the cat -- I brought home a_ black cat _for a reason; maximum luck sows maximum rewards. With him in hand, my next attempt is sure to succeed._

***

_"You're serious that I can have him?"_

_She heard the delicate snipping of a trimmer applied to a flower stem, clearing away the excess. The trimmings were picked up one by one and placed in a box folded from newsprint. "He's old enough -- and he's well-behaved. I'm sure he can put up with whatever you throw at him."_

_"You say that as if I would be more trouble than he would be."_

_"Well, let me put it this way: we all know how much of a klutz you are when it comes to chores."_

_"Foul play!" She waved her hands at the other woman, knowing the other woman would be able to see it in the rearview mirror. Maybe. ...but most likely not. She willfully returned her hands to her lap. "I thought you agreed we wouldn't mention it anymore--"_

_Meow._

_"There, there; don't be like that."_

_Meow..._

_"Look. I think he wants to talk to you."_

_He sat on his haunches, the very image of a relaxed cat. She could just about reach over and scratch him on the chin-- There came another snip and she had to ask, "Look, did you_ have to _pull over for the flowers? We're just minutes away from my place."_

_"Oh ... but ... they were starting to get a bit drab--"_

_"It's just down the road--"_

_"We'll have to park--"_

_"A seven minute walk at most." The directions left her mouth at a near rapid-fire pace-- "and we're there."_

_A pair of trimmers was offered over the shoulders of the front seats. "You could help..."_

_"What happened to calling me a klutz?"_

_***_

_The cat leapt to the ground when she deposited him so she could get her door open. It turned out she had locked it before leaving, and with a mild oath she rummaged around in her pockets._

_"Meow."_

_"You're not also calling me one, are you?" She turned her attention to her bag. "Sorry, Taisho -- you'll be able to get in in a moment."_

***

She knew she had a mirror in Sci Prep for a reason but she wasn't sure the reason was to practise her critical self-examination skills. She stood across from it waiting for a beaker of water on the lab bench to boil.

***

 

***

Nakamura put the cart on the elevator, pressed the right buttons and stepped back out. And ... seeing no one ... made for the stairs, an anticipatory smile curving her lips.

***

**Freefall**

***

The ruined prototype sat in front of the whiteboard under a cloth; she had a "don't touch!" sign pasted on with the expectation it would deter the most curious of students.

_Any computer will do._

She slipped into the Language Labs and figured it'd be empty; her bias was confirmed and she went over to one of the carts, a re-purposed library cart, and took her pick of the herd. _But preferrably one of these._ She hefted up the laptop and checked it for a serial slot. _No one's going to miss you,_ she told it once satisfied.

***

 

***

"...zzzzzz"

The spring chill was getting to her fingertips; she rolled over to hold her hands and her feet pushed something. She heard the clatter of shoes.

"...zzz"

"...zzzzzz"

Now her cheek was resting against the tatami mats.

"...zzzzz

"...zzzzzzzzz

"...zz ...zzzzzz"

Well, she supposed passing out near the front door was hardly the worst place she'd done so in. At least she was INSIDE her apartment...

There was a flutter of wings.

"Hmmmnnn...?" _I hear birds. It must be ... what, morning?_ "Hmmmmmn." _It's not last night at the very least._ She started getting to her feet. "Damn... I could have--"

**SUDDENLY, HER WATCH ALARM WENT OFF.** She pushed past her curtains-- she had sprung into them when she stood-- and entered her apartment proper--

***

"Good morning, Nakamura-sensei..."

"Good morning, Vice Principal."

"Today, 1-S is heading down to the science laboratories, so if you could have everything all set up in a professional fashion..."

"Your class is after mine, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Ah ... thank you."

_It'll save you the embarrassment of being in charge of the first class to break anything._

***

"...regarding the next lesson with the 2nd years," said Sakurai.

"Where are you at?"

Sakurai paused, then glanced at the whiteboard. There wasn't anything relevant on it. "Actually," she began, seeming to duck behind an invisible hurdle, "I was wondering about the machine we cleaned up the other day. What... What was it?" With a smile frozen to her face, Sakurai seemed to be bracing for ... something.

Such analysis of Sakurai's behaviour came well after Nakamura's face grew cold with sweat. "Surely that's irrelevant to our discussion?" _I shouldn't have let her go. I shouldn't have let her help._

"Maybe so, however..."

"If it's about not endangering anyone I assure you I have that covered."

"Eh? You... You actually took my advice?" Sakurai's expression of wonderment sat ill with Nakamura; _why is she looking at me like that?_

"It's not going to fall out of the sky this time; I've changed the... some things. So will you cut it out?"

Once again, Sakurai looked like she was bracing herself; no smile accompanied her request this time: "L-Let me see."

"You're not allowed!"

"Are you rebuilding it?"

_Where's Short Circuit-kun? In my right pocket,_ Nakamura confirmed, her fingers closing around the stun gun.

Sakurai shrunk back, and quietly asked, "Is it really something you can't talk about, Nakamura-sensei? When... Whenever I approach the subject, you're suddenly...somewhat...scary."

"Where are you getting that from?"

"L-Look..."

She looked at the mirror. Sakurai followed her look. "That's how I usually am, no?" Though, she couldn't help but notice the faint sheen of sweat on her face. At this point, Sakurai took a deep breath. Nakamura grabbed up the binder Sakurai had left on the table.

"Eh?" went Sakurai, clearly surprised by this development. "Um--"

She **hadn't** intended to take the binder. But, as if it **hadn't** been an impulsive mistake she blindly flipped through the lesson plans. The plans were tucked in neatly in plastic holders -- someone's bright idea, no doubt. Her fuzzy reflection glanced off the plastic; it was mostly reflecting her cardigan and lab coat, and the windows.

The thought occurred to her that what she saw wasn't what she was getting. She didn't have time right then to sort it out -- Sakurai was waiting on her, whether she liked it or not. She could deflect Sakurai, and there would be nothing Sakurai could do about it. Was there any dirt on Sakurai? Maybe she could reel her in and ... ... find something the other teacher had, like some manner of weakness ... and blackmail her into keeping quiet. But blackmail as a scheme required a lede -- which she most certainly didn't have. Sakurai was, frustratingly enough, the most honest teacher on their workforce, probably. With time, maybe she could find something to use against her.

Time, time, time...

Her thumb brushed up against the crown of her watch -- but of course, the watch being a digital, it didn't have one. Her fingers closed over the would-be crown, coming together through the empty space.

***

 

***

Sakurai-- instead of saying anything to interrupt-- sat down on a stool and waited out the spurt of badly timed second guessing.

"Sensei."

Sakurai started, responding affirmatively and looking up from the clasped hands on her lap.

Nakamura then steeled herself and glossed over things. "It's about time we resumed our meeting. Your next lesson was organic chemistry, no?"

"Yes, that was it..." went Sakurai. For a moment, a stark disappointment had crossed her features like a storm of sleet in the middle of an easygoing day.

"Here. I'm done with this."

Sakurai took the binder with thanks. "Earlier, you were looking through it. Ah... Was there something about a class you wanted to discuss?"

"Never mind; wasn't important.

"It must be on your mind," Nakamura proceeded. "The so-called 'UFO' you saw the other day."

She turned away to pick up a piece of chalk before Sakurai could say: "Eh? Weren't we resuming our ... ehhh, um, meeting..." She drew three rectangles: two tall ones and one as flat as a board between them. The tall rectangles, she divided in three equal parts to represent the floors of the school. The bottom-most part of the left-most rectangle she wrote "Sci Labs". The bottom-most part of the right-most rectangle she wrote "1st Years". Then "2nd Years" and "3rd Years", in order from middle part up. It occurred to her it wasn't actually that important to label the building so thoroughly -- they were both familiar enough with the school for it to be superfluous. She erased the "Staff Lounge etc" she was about to write above the science laboratories. "This is sufficient.

"You were here," she said, pointing at '1st Years'.

"Ah, yes."

Nakamura drew a dot and drew a line from it to indicate it was Sakurai-sensei.

"The 'UFO' started here," she said, drawing a circle with a line through it, and then beside it a line that spanned the height it fell from to the ground, "and ended up here.

"It had a downward arc, which you can't see from this angle. For the purposes of this we'll just assume it fell in a straight line.

"How tall is our school?"

"Ah ... um ..." Sakurai thought about it, looking at her fingers, then around and above her. "About 9 meters," she offered. "Probably more."

"It fell from a height greater than 9 meters," proceeded Nakamura, scribbling it in. She paused, and added, "That means it would take about 1.5 seconds to go from here--

"--to here."

She stopped pointing at the graphic and moved over to a clear portion of the board to calculate the force of the impact. Seeing as she had just prepared a lab for Yanagiyama-sensei's Physics students that was oddly premeditative of the 'UFO'-'s crash... Dropping a shuttlecock, basketball, and tennis ball from the roof at the same time. ...the required knowledge was fresh in her mind. These things usually came in threes; she supposed she was waiting for the third shoe to drop. Nakamura double-underlined the answer and stepped back to brush a hand over her chin.

"Hmm. That kind of impact could indeed land someone in the hospital."

"Yes, it would be pretty serious," agreed Sakurai, who seemed to have grasped it on some level.

"Then it can be understood that I picked a time when there would be no one outside in the compound for good reason." There were other motivations apart from avoiding an untimely unfortunate's demise, which hadn't been at the top of her priority list at all.

Sakurai countered with, "I think the Principal might have been."

...braining the Principal would have been a heck of a thing to have on her record. Nakamura deflected Sakurai's counter with, "Well, he wasn't."

"There wasn't anyone outside," agreed Sakurai, "but is it really best practise?"

***

**Freeflight**

***

"Step a little more to the right," she said, motioning for Sakurai to move with her right hand. Sakurai obeyed, shuffling over.

"Is this good?"

"Ah, from that spot your viewing angle is perfect."

"Um ... what do you mean by that?"

She seized the cloth she had thrown over the cart and flung it back.

_Witness! the unveiling of an autonomous, cat recognising flying machine!_

"Yes. As you can see, this is the new prototype," she said, in tones at odds with her inner sense of triumph. "Meet Peace-kun. **Alpha-3,** " she added.

Sakurai gushed, much to Nakamura's private satisfaction. "Amazing," she went, "did you put it together during the past few days?"

"I did."

"It looks smaller than before. Um, is it smaller?"

Nakamura set her hands on the cart to look over her own handiwork. "It will be when I've finished with it. I'm still working on the internals -- what you see here is just the shell. You can even see there's nothing in it yet."

"Transparent plastic?"

"It was on sale at a 50% markdown," she admitted.

Sakurai indicated the white cloth over the lab bench with a glance. It must have looked suspicious with its one box-shape and multitude of tray-shapes. "Is there also something...?"

"Well. Would you believe me if I said there was nothing underneath?"

"N-No."

"I thought not," Nakamura sighed. She pulled away the cloth in a much more meticulous fashion, careful not to disturb the contents. "I wish you would, Sakurai-sensei."

***

She was marking up slides salvaged from a sink cupboard when she heard a student.

"What is it?" she asked, automatically.

"Um ... Sensei..." went Shinonome. Nakamura's head snapped to attention and her heart skipped a beat; she had completely lost her original train of thought.

Shinonome glanced at herself self-consciously. "Is there ... something on me?"

Nakamura dismissed her concern with gesture. "No, there's nothing.

"What are you here to see me about?"

"I have something for you," answered Shinonome, after recovering.

"For me?"

"U-Um, to be more precise, I'm here to return it."

If Shinonome hadn't had her full attention before-- "'Return'?"

"You ... made this, right? Sensei--"

Nakamura couldn't help it; she just about missed the reference book display cabinet as she edged to her left.

Suddenly, she was in Science Laboratory 2. The hallway was but the next stop.

***

 

***

She retrieved Peace-kun from the plastic bag Shinonome had put on the bench and carefully snipped away the bubble wrap; she peeled off each layer in a painstaking fashion, eyes always on the look out for _something_. The first time she infiltrated the Shinonome Lab, she left the premises completely SOAKED from head to toe, dripping and shivering like someone who had escaped from an industrial-strength fountain sprinkler ARRANGEMENT.

_Somehow, she predicted my movements well enough to entrap me. Shinonome, a robot of her creation, would undoubtedly obey that child's orders... If she tells Shinonome to deliver something, Shinonome will deliver it. Which means, if she told Shinonome to bring something to me that was trapped... She would do it without question._

She had to be careful. What if the trap was a pheromone dispenser? making you a target to be dive-bombed by flying squirrels, genus: petaurista. It would make commuting to school and back highly problematic. Every tree would have a flying squirrel in it, ready to lock on! A veritable army was at the child professor's bidding.

The screws came loose and she popped open the outer casing. She set aside the fin-- the bit of the craft that stuck out like a ring around it, giving the craft its distinct UFO shape-- so it wouldn't get in the way. Nakamura looked over the electrical components and came to a conclusion: someone else had opened it up! Between the time she sent it out and got it back, someone had unwound the wires-- taking them out-- and rewound them-- putting them back in.

She should check everything one more time.

***

She had to check everything one more time.

***  
  
_Check one more time..._

_***_

_***_

I sent Peace-kun out a few days ago and it appears to be stuck somewhere. I guess I have to go out and rescue it.

_She skulked along in the dead of night with her backpack and headphones. The radio was telling her Peace-kun was in the area. With some perseverance, she'll find it._

**An Hour Later**

It's nighttime. Of course the batteries in Peace-kun would die at some point! _She could have torn her headphones out in frustration._

Tsk, nothing for it. I'll have to go retrieve it tomorrow, after it's recharged itself. ... Isn't this the street Shinonome lives on?

She should already be fast asleep... _she thought, her eyes drawn in that direction._ No, the child professor would be sleeping, and Shinonome... What about Shinonome?

_She saw the train trundling past on the raised track above the single-family residences. Nakamura came to a halt at the threshold of the Shinonome Lab. Due to the darkness she couldn't see if the sentry was still there, sweeping the front path free of soot so a trespasser's footprints would be highly noticeable. Rather cleverly, she removed her watch and shined it above the fence to see if she would get a response. When none resulted, her hopes shot up._

I must go in ... there's no opportunity better! but what if defensive measures have upgraded since my last visit? Shinonome isn't here to invite me inside on a pretence.

Damn... I really want to go! At least let me catch a glimpse of the laboratory within. The last time I was here, all I managed to see was the sitting room! _she thought._

_***_

Was it safe? The question weighed on her mind as she gingerly picked out the parts of Peace-kun she wanted to wire up to the laptop again. The fears and anxiety receded as things proceeded without any surprises; the data, perfectly accessible, downloaded and created reasonable scatter graphs. The logs weren't abnormal.

She put it away and returned home. The blinds of her apartment window rolled down at an awkward angle as she shut her front door. She put the laptop on the kotatsu after straightening everything out.

_Peace-kun was at the lab, moving around in it for 2 hours..._ Something occurred to Nakamura then. _Isn't this my chance? Certainly, the child had opened up the craft... But the data's still there._ She'd had a quick glance at the camera data to make sure it was present earlier, and it was! But, _this time_ , she would jump to the end, because who could resist the lure of the forbidden laboratory?

She had the computer compile a video made from the last 3 hours of snapshots, and with a skip and a hum went to shower and buy supper.

***

_Nakamura tiptoed around the perimeter of the Lab._

_***_

_***_

_"Is there anything I can assist you with?" asked the sentry robot in the guise of an ordinary school boy, yes, the cheap one with the blue baseball cap!! "Ah," it said, "Are you a burglar?_

_"You sound winded. Are you in need of rest?_

_"Ah," it said again, "Are you leaving?"_

Sneaking in is no longer an option. Retreat!

_***_

She doubted even the child professor could have imagined this!

(Currently: in the video, the craft was scaling a roof top; it then picked a particularly sunny spot and sat there for a bit, gathering energy. Anxious to get a move on, Nakamura clicked forward.)

A perfect infiltration of the Shinonome Lab. She didn't even have to get soaked this time!

She clicked forward. Her heart started pounding in her ears. She clicked forward. "Isn't this the hall? Yes, it's--"

_...wait, was that a black cat just now?_ Nakamura, instead of just clicking this time, dragged the cursor backwards while having the button pressed down. The video went in reverse, and she saw the child professor back out of a room, going around a black and red blob about the size of an ordinary house cat. _Shinonome said she also had a black cat... Is that him?_

The craft, having done a ponderous about-turn, now pinned to the back of the cat's head, followed the cat as he ambled backwards through the hall. She would recognise that profile anywhere! That was "Taisho!" at Shinonome's? What did that mean...?

***

 

***

**As she recalled it, something that occurred in Term 1...** _"Sensei," said the Langauge Arts teacher with the sideburns*, "A Tsurumi-san's on the phone looking for you." He indicated the phone aligned on the edge of the Vice Principal's desk. It was off the hook, the receiver face down.  
* Takasago? Takasaki? No ... Takayama?_

_"Thanks."_

_"Don't mention it," he said._

_"Moshi moshi? Nakamura speaking. I'm not the only one working at our school, however, so if you wish I can take a message. Which Nakamura are you looking for?"_

_"Ah," said the phone, "Kana-kun!_

_"You sounded like a real professional there," it prattled on, and on, lilting tones gracing the line with a palpable tang of barley tea in a balcony greenhouse._

_The ensuing sense of dread drained all the certainty from her surroundings. "Why are you calling me at school?" She snuck a glance at Taka-something and he seemed to have left the staff lounge. Anyone could come in at any moment._

_"You wouldn't answer," was the slightly hurt response. "I even checked if I had written your number beside your name in my new day planner. I finally gave up and bought the electronic one. Did you know it lets you write on ordinary paper, so you have a second copy in case the bugs leave no computer chips behind?"_

_"Let me call you back."_

_"Would you call?"_

_"If you let me._

_"Look, it said as much in the logs," she droned, all the while keeping her voice low, "I know all about how much you want to chitchat. You still know I can't answer during school hours."_

_"Even at five to ten?"_

_"Yes. I have work to finish."_

_"Dear me, I do hope he's alright," mused her aunt. "He's going to be lonely with you being away so often."_

_"I suppose..." went Nakamura, after realising with unease she was talking about Taisho. "He's doing fine," she answered, with an easy firmness just typical of her. "Cats are survivors."_

***

 

***

"Um, Nakamura-sensei!

"Hakase's... Hakase's only-- She doesn't mean anything bad.

"What happened that time you visited--

"It was because I hadn't cleaned things up well enough, so please--

"And in regards to Sakamoto-san, I mean-- Tai... Tai... um, Taisho--

"She's only a child, so she doesn't fully understand the consequences of her actions," finished Shinonome. The student was wringing her hands as she said this, clasping them against her chest.

Nakamura took a sip of her coffee. "Am I to understand that?" she asked.

Shinonome looked like she didn't know how to take this. "U-Um, yes," she answered.

"Class is starting soon," she mentioned.

"Yes," confirmed Shinonome, who immediately went over to pick up the textbooks.

***

 

***

**_Tokisadame Highschool's Science Preparation Room_ **

"Nakamura-sensei, have you seen the latest issue of this?" he asked, holding up the science and technology magazine. It finally registered with her that he was Mohawk, or Nakanojou; he was known to people by both. ...of course, now that his head was bare, through no fault of his own she mentally added, maybe just Nakanojou.

"I've seen it around," she said, meaning the cover. "What's caught your interest?"

"The electronic scales could use a replacement, right?" After an electrical mishap, they were all but useless.

Except for one. "Mm-hm?"

"Please have a look at this, Sensei," he said, flipping open to the correct page and showing her the WELL BALANCED SCALES FOR A GOOD PRICE page.

***

"It's well-packaged," she remarked; scales were fragile instruments and seeing it arrive in a large box was a good sign. Nakanojou wheeled it in.

They cut through the tape and opened the top flaps, and peered inside. She could feel her face paling. "What...what is this."

He reached in to get the manual; he held it up so they could both see it.

"What IS THIS?" she demanded, more insistently. "A clunker!" she answered.

"It's brand new."

"Those idiots up in finance or whoever it was!! It would be easier to buy a pocket scale and use that instead!!"

"C-Calm down, Sensei."

"Does it even have a tare function!!"

"It does, it says 'tare' down here," he said, pointing into the box at the right spot. On that spot was a glimmer of hope.

_Tare functionality!_ "Ah," she gasped, hands on the edge of the box, "How accurate is it?"

"I don't know. I think maybe to the third decimal place. At least that's how the ones I learned to use at the supermarket were like..."

"Let's set up Tare-kun..." She trailed off, and then ignored what she just said. "Set it up in that corner."

"You want Tare-kun on the lab bench? Why not put it back on the cart? That would be more convenient."

"I don't want to be tripping over any hanging wires," she answered. "Pass me the manual, Nakanojou."

***

Come the end of the autumn season, Tare-kun was joined by Tare-kun Delta, a mechanical spring gage actually designed for the rigours of Science!

***


	3. 3E: i. Episode 1 (3/3)

***

Being a teacher meant working over the holidays... Takasaki fervently believed he didn't mind that. In a way, it was a blessing to have a distraction from the Christmas season -- the season where lovers got together and spent a night enjoying the dying breath of winter's peak. Some students still hung around-- mostly those who were fervently dedicated to their clubs-- but the teachers were there, too. 

He was going to give it his all!

***

**Warp Over Christmas**

***

Someone or someones had artfully created round puffs of snow from silver-white garlands and wreathed them on a hook passed through one of the windows hugging the ceiling, making it like winter had poured out of the staff lounge from the mountain slopes. Poinsettas made of tissue paper and construction paper, petals and leaves twisted into one with paper-sheathed wire, golden pollen applied with a dash of paint, hung from other such hooks with boughs of green paper holly and white paper snowflakes.

You could practically hear the light tinkling when it struck the Christmas decorations.

"Anyone know why the umbrellas are wet?" he asked. When he entered the school he saw there were considerably more umbrellas packed into the wall receptacle than there should have been; and what's more, they were at the end of a wet trail. "I'm pretty sure it didn't rain this morning.

"What did I miss? A snow fight?"

"Ah," said Niimi. "You **just** missed it."

"Who're the lucky winners?"

"The ice cube wreaths."

"Sorry?"

"Wonderful sight," remarked Uhyoue. "Really would have worked better by the ski slopes. There, they at least stood a chance." He clicked his pen and stuck it in a shirt pocket. "Melted in the courtyard in no time at all."

"And such a racket they made trying," complained one of the Nakamuras.

"It was awfully pretty," said a different one, "you really should have seen it."

He asked if Uhyoue and the first Nakamura meant the students, and the first answered, "Who else?"

"Remember, Suzuki was there," said the different Nakamura. "Suzuki was supervising."

"Suzuki and students... Sheesh."

Uhyoue said he was going up to the computer labs if anyone needed him and left the room.

"Hey, doesn't someone have a picture?" said Kita, who then called over the tables, "Picture of our tree wreathed in ice cubes! Who has it?"

"Why live with a picture?" a Nakamura called back. The third one to join the conversation.

"Hey, hey, state your purpose! What do you even mean by 'why live with a picture'?" Kita asked.

"This!" One of the poinsettas was held up in the sunlight, glinting significantly. "No, wait, I mean...

"This!" A camcorder was held up, catching some sun. "I also have the latest drama club presentation if anyone's into that!"

Takasaki laughed and said, "Honestly, what a rowdy group of trouble-makers these teachers are. What do we do if the Vice Principal walks in on us?"

As if on cue, Akagi-- not the Vice Principal-- walked in and asked if Nakamura was there. Kita remarked she was probably checking the soil behind the gym again.

"We tell him we're correctly greeting the season," said Tomioka.

Akagi joined in with a wry, "We have to be a serious bunch, after all." Tomioka agreed with a serious grunt.

***

 

***

"Sakurai's with Suzuki, if you were looking for her," mentioned the second Nakamura. He said he wasn't, but...

but...

***

 _I guess it wouldn't hurt to look,_ he thought, inexplicably going where his nose led him. While on the stairs he could already smell the enticing flavour of sizzling meats, tomatoes and potatoes. He would be heading over to satisfy his own sense of purpose and it was always an adventure to see what his fellow teachers were up to. _Sakurai-sensei must be in the middle of making something delicious._ He was still unprepared for the sight he saw when opening the door.

"Where's Suzuki-sensei?" Takasaki asked carefully, a jot light-headed from the shock. In addition to an apron, she had a lab coat on over her slight shoulders-- a reminder they were still at school!-- with her sleeves rolled up.

"Ah, she's just stepped out for a bit," answered Sakurai. "I'm helping out," she confirmed, "with the lunch preparation...

"Just something special for everyone who showed up today."

"OF COURSE I WOULD," he blurted out without thinking.

She started, clasping her hands together against her chest. "Y-Yes? What do you mean?"

"SORRY," he apologised, "I MEAN I WAS remembering something I wanted to say ... from earlier." 

"Oh..."

"Hahahaha," he ended weakly.

Her smile returned. "You should probably tell them before they leave today, Takasaki-sensei," she said.

 _You should probably tell them before they leave today..._ her voice echoed.

He looked at her with a pleading heart and could feel himself get all shaken up on the inside.

_You should probably tell them before they leave today..._

No...no, he told himself, mastering his own thoughts, _This... This is good enough._

He was dimly aware of her calling his name in concern. It only increased the tension on his soul and made the fog-- oh, that blessed fog!-- in his head thicker...

***

"Ah, yes," she said once he mentioned it, "I heard about the wreaths. I think I saw them when the students started putting up the ladders.

"I may have missed the end of it, though. Oh ... there were a lot of people with umbrellas, I remember seeing them taking them out."

***  
  
On the top two corners of the hall pinboards were snowflakes cut from a shining silver and blue in various sizes.

"You could be a little more eager but that'll have to do," Akagi said.

"You're asking me to pipe your opinions to the meeting," said Nakamura. Takasaki had to place her voice. "I'm sure you have an idea of how long this means I'll have to talk."

"A hundred points of goodwill."

"Where do I redeem them?"

"When I return after the New Year."

"I'm asking where, not when."

He followed their conversation to the computer labs and came across Akagi and Nakamura in the hall. Between them was a table-- actually two desks-- and a generous pile of looseleaf booklets. It looked like he was in the middle of going through them with her.

He greeted them.

"Takasaki-sensei," went Akagi.

"Afternoon," she responded, sparing him the briefest glance.

"Why are you having your strategic science meeting up here?"

"Math," she corrected, turning over a page. "It's all about Akagi-sensei today."

"Accounting was in search of brains to fix a problem," responded Akagi. "The figures weren't matching up so I got pulled down. I was supposed to deal with Nakamura today, so here she is."

"You say brains but eyes were what they needed. It turned out to be an error in the spreadsheet," she added, sounding, if possible, more somber than Akagi. "Wait. You're not done with me?" She lost her cool, leaving her seat with her hands gripping the sides of her desk. " **There's more?** "

Takasaki laughed. "Hang in there, Nakamura-sensei," he said. "Oh, right; do you want anything to drink from Suzuki? Either of you?"

"Hm, her coffee's not strong enough," she remarked.

"She and Sakurai-sensei are making us lunch."

"Oh? I suppose the labs are going to smell--" She hesitated. "--of ketchup for the next few days."

"It's a great smell for kick starting the stomach," he pointed out. Her silent stare was anything but agreement, though.

"Which lab did they use?"

"Sci Lab 2."

Akagi asked, "Doesn't Suzuki have green tea stored in the lab?"

"If you consider iodine-soaked tea leaves drinkable..." she grumbled.

"How much iodine are we talking about here?" he asked, without missing a beat.

"It's a cheap brand. I wouldn't drink it."

Takasaki reacted with, "An iodine green tea!?"

Akagi nodded at him and remarked to Nakamura, "With all the iodine in it, it can't come cheap." Nakamura wouldn't look at either of them, smiling at something in the window. Takasaki had the impression he needed to be really specific to Suzuki about this later...

"C-C-CHEMICALS AND TEA, DON'T MIX!"

"You properly disposed of it?"

She smoothly answered, "Yes. In fact, none of the green tea is around anymore. So you don't need to fret, Sensei."

"I'll have barley tea," said Akagi.

"UNDERSTOOD"

"Black coffee," said Nakamura.

"I'll remember!" 

***

"Ice cube wreaths?" Nakamura asked. "Hmm. Did something like that really happen today?"

"You said there was a recording of the whole incident?" asked Akagi.

***

"Takasaki-sensei!" yelled a bright voice. Suzuki grinned at him as he came back into Science Lab 2. "Hehehe, what orders have I got?

"I was told you were playing errand boy," she elaborated.

"Ah," he went, "so I just missed her."

"You did, yep."

He tried not to feel too disappointed about this; he found himself asking, "Do you know where she went?"

"She didn't say but you've worked with her long enough," was the shrewd-eyed response.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Maybe I'll tell you if you give me my customers' orders, Sennnnsei." At his flustered look, she asked, "Ohoho? Don't tell me you were so disappointed she disappeared that you forgot them all?"

"I--

"I--

_**"REGRET NOTHING** _

"I mean I FORGOT nothing!!"

"Okay, okay, now grab yourself a coat and put the orders on the board."

"W-Why should I-- A lab coat?"

"And an apron!"

***

 

***

Something fell at his feet, bouncing on his toes. It was a plastic plate of some kind.

***

 **Fetch**  
  
***

"Oi, you there," said a gruff voice. He looked around. "Move over will you?" Takasaki apologised, still unsure of the source. It _seemed_ to be coming from below his ankles...

But who could speak up from so short a height and have such a deep voice? Seriously, no kid talked like that.

"Thanks a bunch."

He saw a black cat with a red scarf come and pick up the plate; it then retreated under the fence, going flat and squeezing through.

"Oi, kid," said the voice, "try not to throw it over this time."

Takasaki jumped as he heard something like an air cannon fire off. "Yosha!!" cried an actual kid's voice. "Go, Sakamoto!" He heard the sound of wood splintering on the far side of the fence.

"For the last time," said the voice. "Not! A! Dog!"

"Go, Notadog!"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT--" The air cannon fired again. "--ANNNNYYAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh..." He fancied he saw the red-scarfed cat hurl into the sky at the speed of sound.

***

**Cycling Matters**

***

The red scarfed cat twisted and turned and landed upright on a distant roof. The red scarfed cat then scrambled across it and disappeared, heading away from the kid with the air cannon, instead of returning. _Definitely not a dog._

He pushed away from the ground and started pedalling again.

***

The chains of the bike click-click-click-click-clicked click-click-click-click-clicked click-click-click-click-clicked as he held his feet still on the pedals and skimmed along the concrete. _Maybe this one will do,_ he thought, feeling boundless and in the moment. But he brought it back and took out another for a test drive.

Up the street and down the street he went, thinking, _It would be nice to have this one..._ But something about it just wasn't good enough; it didn't match his expectations. It didn't live up to the old clunker he used to ride back at his ancestral home.

"Sorry, I don't think I'm in for a new one yet," he said to the shopkeep. "Do you still have any of those up for rent?"

"You ought to get your own, Takasaki-sensei," said the shopkeep around his shaved moustache, "I don't always have bikes in for borrowing, and it's a sad day when I have to tell you, 'nope, don't have one' and you have to hike up to that school of yours on foot."

Takasaki smiled. "Someday I'll take a shine to one of these."

He paid and within the hour was outside on the well-cared-for bike. It click-click-click-click-clicked click-click-click-click-clicked click-click-click-click-clicked as he gently curved it around a bend.

***

 

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not 100% happy with what I've written so far (that includes the stuff not posted yet) but I wanted to make it in time for one of Nano's possible birthdays! You see, the anime obscures the calendar in episode 26 in such a way that it's hard to determine the exact month and year. But there are only so many different combinations where the 1st day of the month occurs on a Tuesday and the 7th day of the month occurs on the first Monday of the second week.
> 
> The short of it is, Nano's birthday could have happened on January 7th, 2002/2008/2013 or February 2000/2011, and interestingly enough, March 2005/2011. Twice in 2011! It happens three times in 2008 if we include April and July. Since three is the titular number of this story, I think you can guess which year I picked.
> 
> Well, no, not seriously. (And actually it happens three times in 2011 too... Check out November. Like April and July of 2008, and any year March, it's out of the running because it's well past the end of the school year, which would be sometime late February.) Though I won't tell you how often I wished _I hadn't_ picked a date. Most of the set pieces of 3E are derived from it and finding anything is hard sometimes. I know Nichijou is supposed to be timeless (well, it certainly tries to be) but I couldn't have written this story without roughly knowing the 'when' because I'm a walking pedant.
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> (01/13): I wanted to get something out this week but, haha, I haven't finished revising it yet. Takasaki's just hard for me to write.
> 
> Also I'm not so sure I knew what I was talking about when I babbled about set pieces and timelessness last week.


End file.
